TAFP loses San Antonio life member and professor
Leonard G. Paul, M.D., of Fair Oaks Ranch, died Aug. 21, 2007 at the age of 82. The longtime family physician and professor of family medicine had been a TAFP member since 1957 and was active in the TAFP Alamo Chapter.
Paul received the 1998 Texas Family Physician of the Year Award. In the profile published in the third-quarter edition of TEXAS FAMILY PHYSICIAN, the TAFP staff writer described his “unyielding dedication” to his patients and students characterized by his willingness to make house calls, check regularly on patients’ health by phone and hand out business cards with his direct line on it.
“He’s an extraordinary, caring human being,” one of his patients said in the article. “He stays until all of his patients are seen regardless of how late he has to stay.”
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Paul was awarded a medical degree from the Ohio State University School of Medicine and completed an internship at Philadelphia General Hospital. Though he joined a medical practice in Michigan City, Paul began a career in academia at Ohio State before moving to the University of California, Irvine, to serve as vice chairman of the Department of Family Medicine.
From there, Paul moved to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In the profile, then-UTHSCSA assistant professor F. David Schneider, M.D., described how Paul developed the Department of Family Medicine, increased the number of residency programs in south Texas, and instituted the Family Practice Inpatient Service and the third-year clerkship.
Paul is survived by his wife of 29 years, Nancy; children Michael J. Paul and wife Paula, Kathy Caywood and husband Ed, and Stephen Paul and wife Janice; and six grandchildren.
TAFP members participate in Hard Hats program
While supplies last, members can order the family medicine-promotional stickers from TAFP and distribute them to kids during Hard Hats events.
TAFP members around the state are working to prevent head injuries among children by participating in the Texas Medical Association’s Hard Hats for Little Heads program. Through Hard Hats for Little Heads, physicians distribute up to 100 bicycle helmets at community fairs, school safety demonstrations or their clinics to promote bicycle safety. TMA covers half the cost of the helmets and TAFP covers the other half, making the helmets free for TAFP members.
By participating in the Hard Hats program, family physicians also deliver an important message to the public: family physicians care for people of all ages, including kids. In this spirit, TAFP staff has designed a promotional sticker to be handed out at helmet giveaway events or adhered to the helmets. The 2.5-inch circular sticker features the TAFP logo and text, “Family Docs Care 4 Kids.” Request these special stickers while supplies last by contacting Kate McCann at TAFP at (512) 329-8666 or kmccann@tafp.org.
To sign up for the Hard Hats for Little Heads program, contact Tammy Wishard with TMA at (512) 331-6336 or hardhats@texmed.org. Thanks to all the TAFP members who have volunteered for the 2007 program:
Kelly Bennett, M.D., and Jennifer Mitchell, M.D., of Lubbock Larry Brown, M.D., of Newton David Butler, M.D., of Austin Dennis Canon, M.D., of Canyon Tamra Deuser, M.D., of Lewisville Olga Duchicela, M.D., of Weimar Mark English, M.D., of College Station with Scott & White College Station Joseph Finley, M.D., of Beaumont Shanna Garza, M.D., and Manvinder Kainth, M.D., of Dallas Rebecca Gladu, M.D., of Baytown Brian Goerig, M.D., of El Campo Ty Gore, M.D., of Mineral Wells T. David Greer, M.D., of Henrietta Paul Guttuso, M.D., of Sugar Land Penny Jeffery, M.D., of Abilene Joel Kerschenbaum, M.D., of The Woodlands Susan Kraemer, M.D., of Weimar Malcolm Lochiel, M.D., of Brenham Vincent Priestner, M.D., of Abilene Harvey Randolph, M.D., of Port Arthur Edwin Rathbun, M.D., of Iraan Jasmine Sulaiman, M.D., of Spring Karsten Tucker, M.D., of Kerrville Rodney Young, M.D., of Amarillo
Plano practice receives excellence award
Village Health Partners, a practice founded by TAFP members Christopher Crow, M.D., and Sander Gothard, M.D., has been named as one of the recipients of the 2007 Nicholas E. Davies Awards of Excellence.
Formerly named Family Medical Specialists of Texas, the eight-physician practice in Plano builds upon the idea of a “medical village” to meet patients’ needs. This concept, in addition to the physicians’ adoption of an electronic health record and other technologies made the practice a good candidate for the award.
“It is always motivating to see how the implementation of technology can make such a positive difference in the delivery of patient care,” said Nancy R. Babbitt, chairwoman of the award committee, in a news article about the award.
Village Health Partners and its physicians have been recognized several times for innovation and excellence including as 2006 Practice of the Year by Physicians Practice Management journal. Physicians in the practice have received the “top doctor” designation in D magazine and have been included in Texas Monthly magazine’s list of “Best Doctors in Texas.”
In Memoriam: Farewell to a colleague
By Beth Choby, M.D.
Richard Garrison, M.D.
It is with great sadness that the faculty and staff of the San Jacinto Methodist Family Medicine residency mourn the loss of our friend and mentor Richard Lewis White Garrison, M.D. Richard died unexpectedly on Aug. 12, 2007 at age 52 and is survived by Melissa, his wife of 32 years, and their four children. Richard had been a faculty member at the residency since 2003. Prior to this, he served as faculty at several universities including the University of Houston Department of Family and Community Medicine.
Richard will be remembered as an exemplary teacher. He coordinated the residency’s inpatient teaching service, devising a committee process by which the residents legislate policy and oversee the family medicine hospital service. That the Family Medicine Inpatient Teaching service won the residents’ award for best rotation two out of the past three years speaks to his teaching ingenuity.
Richard will also be remembered as an exemplary friend. His sense of humor and compassion were both unmatched. He was an incredible mentor to junior faculty members and a consistently positive role model for the residents. A true “generalist” family physician, Richard delivered babies, worked as a hospitalist, did procedures and maintained a busy clinical practice. He also enjoyed many interests outside of medicine including music, poetry and carpentry. He was an inventor who held several patents on ventilators. A “jack-of-all-trades,” there were few topics medical or otherwise on which he could not provide helpful advice.
One of Richard’s special interests was research in family medicine. He always wanted to establish a family medicine-based research collaborative and we wish to carry on this dream in his memory. The San Jacinto Family Medicine residency is thus working to develop the Richard Lewis Garrison research endowment through the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. The endowment will provide grant funding for research conducted by family physicians. The Garrison family supports this effort as a fitting tribute to Richard. Because of the generosity of many people who knew and loved Richard, significant progress on this goal has already been made. Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the endowment in Richard’s memory can do so by contacting Kathy McCarthy at TAFP, (512) 329-8666, ext. 14.
Doggett leads UT clinic
TAFP member Lisa Doggett, M.D., will serve as the medical director for the new Family Wellness Center at the University of Texas at Austin. The primary care facility, run in conjunction with the UT School of Nursing, opened in April 2007 to provide medical care to low-income, uninsured residents of Travis County.
“The clinic will provide desperately needed health care to hundreds of Travis County residents who are without private insurance,” Doggett said in a UT press release. “By serving as a medical home to these patients, we also will help keep people out of emergency rooms, where care is far more expensive and less efficient.”
Doggett graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and has worked at the People’s Community Clinic in Austin for the past five years.
Mabry wins AAFP vice speaker election
Announces candidacy for AAFP speaker
Leah Raye Mabry, M.D.
Leah Raye Mabry, M.D., of San Antonio won re-election for a fourth term as vice speaker of the AAFP Congress of Delegates. At the October meeting of the Congress of Delegates in Chicago, Mabry also announced her candidacy for speaker. That election will take place at the 2008 meeting in San Diego.
As vice speaker, she will continue to work with Speaker Thomas Weida, M.D., from Pennsylvania to set the agenda and preside over the Congress of Delegates, the governing body of AAFP. Mabry is also a voting member of the AAFP Board of Directors.
Mabry is a long-time leader in Texas and within AAFP. She is a TAFP past president, a past winner of TAFP’s Family Physician of the Year award and she served three consecutive two-year terms as one of TAFP’s delegates to AAFP.
Mabry currently serves as the associate director of the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency Program in San Antonio and is a clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.